Digital

All new MySpace previewed to press

By | Published on Monday 19 November 2012

MySpace

Following that recent unexpected preview video of what the all new MySpace will look like, the current bosses of the one time uber-social-network, Justin Timberlake and Specific Media’s Tim and Chris Vanderhook, last week briefed the press a little more about what we can expect from the revamped website ahead of the launch of a limited access beta stint.

As previously reported, the new MySpace has been built from scratch, and will be very much focused on artists looking for somewhere to bring together their online activity, and for fans looking to connect to their favourite acts, and to listen to their music. A music player will sit at the bottom of the page, playing music continuously as users browse around the platform, while on artist profiles there will be charts showing the most played tracks and videos, and the most active fans.

Behind the platform, ramped up analytics will be very much part of the mix. Previous upgrades of the MySpace artist profiles included better stats, and tools that provide analytics, and help artists navigate them, will be very much part of the new platform; indeed, for artists who have long since abandoned MySpace and are currently happy with a Facebook/Twitter/Soundcloud/YouTube/D2F profile combo, the promise of more coherent stats may be what attracts them back to Timberlake’s site.

According to Billboard, Tim Vanderhook says: “If you think about today how everyone is obsessed with YouTube play counts, there’s no depth behind that. Is it big in LA, is it big in Detroit, is it big in another country? What type of people are consuming the music?”

Commercially advertising will play an important part in paying for the whole thing, that being Specific Media’s background. And with plans to still make available for free streaming the vast catalogue of music licensed from the majors and indies by the old MySpace Music, a decent revenue stream will be needed pretty quickly if the all new MySpace is to work as a business.

It’s still uncertain whether Timberlake and the Vanderhooks can really make a success of MySpace, given all its past baggage. Though commentators who had long since written off the former social network do now seem a tiny little bit excited about the all new version, and that in itself is quite an achievement. What feedback comes out once artists and fans get to actually play with the new platform will certainly be interesting.



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